Retired admiral: Focus on military, not jobs in JFCOM debate

— Virginia leaders should focus on the potential harm to the military, not the local economy, to fight the closing of Joint Forces Command, a retired rear admiral said Monday.

"We need to look at how it affects the war fighter," said Fred Metz, a member of a military advisory group that Rep. Glenn Nye, D- Norfolk, formed some months ago.

Joe Bouchard, a retired Navy captain and former state lawmaker, said it's also worth highlighting how closure might harm the partnership with NATO. JFCOM enjoys a close relationship with NATO's Allied Command Transformation, also located in Norfolk.

Nye convened the group Monday to discuss last week's bombshell announcement from Defense Secretary Robert Gates that the Norfolk-based JFCOM would be shut down.

Since then, most talk has focused on potential lost jobs in Hampton Roads. The command, which also has facilities in Suffolk, employs about 2,800 military and civilian personnel along with 3,000 contractors.

But Metz said Defense Department strategists would not be persuaded by the fallout to the region's economy.

"Our argument has to be on capabilities," he said.

Be it military or the economy, the debate is just getting started.

The Hampton Roads delegation is holding a roundtable discussion in Suffolk Wednesday. Nye said the House Armed Services Committee will holds hearings in Washington in the fall. That could include a field hearing in Hampton Roads, he said.

Separately, Sen. Jim Webb on Monday called for a hearing on JFCOM before the full Senate Armed Services Committee.

JFCOM's mission is to train different branches of the military to fight effectively together. It also demonstrates and evaluates the latest intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems to fill pressing needs in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Gates said he was justified in closing JFCOM because the military has largely embraced the idea of operating together.

But another commission member said it would be a mistake to assume that JFCOM's mission has been accomplished.

Operating jointly "is a process. It's a journey. You never reach that point of transformation," said Frank Roberts, executive director of the Hampton Roads Military and Federal Facilities Alliance.

Bouchard, who commanded Naval Station Norfolk, noted the strong relationship between JFCOM and NATO-ACT, the military modernization command in Norfolk. Losing JFCOM or having its functions scattered could harm that bond, he said.

Marine Gen. James Mattis once headed both JFCOM and NATO-ACT. Mattis now leads Central Command.

NATO is commanded by French Air Force Gen. Stephan Abrial, who assumed that post last year. It marked the first time in NATO's 60-year history that a non-American officer filled the position, normally held by a four-star U.S. general, and it welcomed France back to NATO's inner command core.

NATO-ACT is the only strategic command within the 28-nation alliance that is headquartered in North America